Travel Tip: How to Trade Your Flight Ticket or Hotel Reservation

Have an unwanted birthday present or Christmas gift? There are websites to help you unload them. But what about travel?

There are now a number of online platforms that let you trade your flight ticket and hotel reservations–or buy someone else’s vacation at half price.

In Europe, a site called Transfer Travel lets you buy other peoples’ unwanted holidays or sell your own. And the closer the travel date, the bigger the discount becomes. A six-night reservation for a house in the Netherlands sells for $290.

Then there’s SpareFare. It connects people who can’t make their non-refundable flights or hotel reservations with those looking for last minute deals. One caution: Most U.S. airlines don’t allow for name changes on reservations, but that’s not always the case with airlines like Norwegian, Ryanair, Finnair, Air Canada and Volaris, among others. How about a Los Angeles to Madrid flight that leaves in two days? That’s $230.

And Roomer lets folks sell and buy unwanted non-refundable hotel reservations. One caution: Always call the airline or hotel to confirm the name change has been made, especially if the person traveling is…you.

By Peter Greenberg for PeterGreenberg.com